ANAHEIM – Now, not playing left field at Angel Stadium, not batting cleanup behind All-Star Mike Trout and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols and not wearing No. 32 for your Angels is … Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton hasn’t been around this spring or this season, and now it looks like he’ll never return as an Angel.

The Angels don’t appear to be giving him a chance at the comeback he has made before.

His mural has been scraped off the façade of Angel Stadium to start this season. His jerseys and merchandise have been removed from the Angels Team Store. His nameplate was never installed above the stalls he used to have in the back corner of the clubhouse.

He had no promotions themed around him this season. His headshot wasn’t even among the 2015 Angels in the home-opening series programs.

Hamilton has been de facto cut from the team for months, but unloading him has yet to become official. Too bad he was gone before we ever got see all of his greatness. He has power, speed, 6-foot-4 size, engaging charisma and the story.

We may have gotten only two seasons of flickers and flashes of that 2010 AL MVP and five-time All-Star the Angels signed to a five-year, $125 million deal, between all the slumps, injuries, excuses and, unfortunately, a drug relapse.

Hamilton appeared in 240 games as an Angel in 2013 and 2014. He batted .255 with 31 home runs, far below the .304 career average he had when he arrived after his first six seasons in Cincinnati and Texas.

Once Angels owner Arte Moreno’s shiny new bike as another splashy – and risky – free-agent veteran slugger signing, Hamilton is being dealt back to his former team, the Texas Rangers.

This looks more like a pride move by an owner and an organization who act like they’ve been hoodwinked and betrayed by a slugger who made no secret about his drug and alcohol addiction and then stumbled in his recovery.

When Hamilton self-reported a relapse to Major League Baseball in February and an arbitrator recently ruled Hamilton wouldn’t be disciplined, it appeared all covenants with the Angels management – not necessarily those written in contracts – were broken.

The trust, which Moreno and his wife Carole started to build while closing the deal in Texas with Hamilton, was damaged. Moreno made that clear in his recent “accountability”-laden speeches, and team president John Carpino and General Manager Jerry Dipoto echoed the zero-tolerance stance on substance abuse in their comments.

They didn’t welcome relapsed Hamilton back. They didn’t show compassion for a man known to be recovering from a cocaine and alcohol addiction that banned him from the game in the past. They held the hard line on Hamilton.

The Angels players, feeling more sympathy for a player they knew as a good-hearted teammate, have supported Hamilton’s continued recovery.

But the Angels who sign Hamilton’s paychecks felt differently.

Now, everyone is still trying to make sense of this shattered relationship that many, except perhaps Moreno, always recognized as a huge gamble.

Every ballclub that signs Hamilton has to know about drug problems along with the supreme talent that he used to become an addict-to-All-Star inspirational story and lead the Rangers to two World Series.

To expect Hamilton to be permanently cured from drug temptations is hopeful and perhaps a little naive. Addiction is a disease that requires lifelong recovery, with hiccups, sometimes, along the way.

So, it’s perplexing that the Angels management seems so unforgiving now, so intolerant now, choosing to unload him anywhere, even to an AL West divisional rival, to rid of him.

Hamilton is trying to recover in earnest, rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder and restore sobriety in Houston under the supervision of an accountability coach. He has been preparing himself for baseball, working out, muscling up to 250 pounds, hitting in a cage.

He has been dealing also with filing for divorce from his wife, Katie, with whom he has four daughters.

His life in chaos, he seeks the game that provides him routine.

But the Angels, who owed Hamilton $90 million for his remaining three years on his contract and pro-rated signing bonus, are reportedly willing to dump him for $15 million from the Rangers.

Here’s the sense in the move: The Angels getting 17 cents on the dollar as salvage money.

That short sell is better than paying full price for a player the front office decided it doesn’t want or believe in anymore. It’s desperate salary relief, even by giving him to the divisional rival Rangers.

The Angels management, apparently trying to cut its losses, is going to take a hit here.

The club could be seen as dispassionate toward a recovering addict who battles each day with demons more than fastball strikes. Sympathetic fans have already sided with Hamilton, who often stopped to talk with fans, sign autographs, pose for pictures, and even share recovery stories during his Angels days.

Moreover, the club could be ultimately be hurt by facing his powerful, avenging-Angel bat and really pay in the box score and the standings when it faces him again.

Days after the Angels outlined the plan for his return, they are reportedly letting him go for pennies to an enemy.

It’s unfortunate that the Angels couldn’t give Hamilton, the player who has proved worthy of second chances, a second chance.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.